Navy's carrier fleet faces temporary reduction through 2027 as new ships hit development snags

The U.S. Navy will drop from 11 to 10 aircraft carriers for about a year once the USS Nimitz is decommissioned next year, as recent budget documents show a new carrier will be delayed from its original delivery date.

According to the Department of Defense Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 budget estimates, Newport News Shipbuilders was expected to deliver the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79) to the Navy by July 2025, but that has since shifted to March 2027.

"The CVN 79 delivery date shifted from July 2025 to March 2027 (preliminary acceptance TBD) to support completion of Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) certification and continued Advanced Weapons Elevator (AWE) work," FY 2026 shipbuilding budget book reads.

Both the Advanced Arresting Gear certification and Advanced Weapons Elevator work are systems that were incorporated into the Ford class carriers.

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HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia told USNI News that it is taking lessons learned and applying them with the new ships in its class.

"Specifically, John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) construction was fairly advanced when many Ford lessons were realized, precluding timely implementation of lessons learned for Kennedy," Todd Corillo, HII company spokesperson, told the publication. "In contrast, Enterprise (CVN 80) and Doris Miller (CVN 81) have been able to incorporate, leverage and capitalize on Ford lessons learned earlier in the construction process."

Also being shifted was the delivery of the USS Enterprise (CVN-80), which was expected to be delivered in September 2029, but has since been pushed back to July 2030.

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"The CVN 80 delivery date shifted from September 2029 to July 203 due to delays in material availability and industry/supply chain performance," the document’s footnotes read.

USNI reported that the Navy originally planned to pursue a dual-phase delivery approach for the Kennedy but has since switched to a single-phase delivery, which added two additional years of work to the vessel’s design and construction contract.

Under the new plans, the Kennedy would be outfitted to handle the fifth-generation F-35C Joint Strike Fighter Lightning II and be outfitted with the new Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar, USNI reported.

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Officials originally thought the dual-phase approach would save the Navy money when it came to construction costs and by minimizing the downtime between the Nimitz decommissioning and Kennedy delivery.

These delays come as the USS Nimitz prepares to be decommissioned.

Commissioned on May 3, 1975, the Nimitz is the oldest active aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy.

It is currently on its final sea voyage in the Middle East, as the Nimitz is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2026.

The deployment is significant because the Nimitz was also deployed in 1980 when its helicopters were part of the failed U.S. effort known as Operation Eagle Claw to rescue the American hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The U.S. has been in a shadow war against Iran ever since.

Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.